Community college graduate receives new Lifeline Scholarship

September 29, 2006

Hannah Joyce of Fieldale, Va., has been awarded the Lifeline Scholarship for one-half tuition and fees to attend Virginia Tech. The Lifeline Scholarship is awarded on academic merit and is given to graduates of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) with the highest grade point average (GPA).

Joyce, a graduate of Patrick Henry Community College, is participating in a dual program that will allow her to obtain a degree in mathematics in the College of Science and a master’s in education in five years. The Lifeline Scholarship does not apply to the fifth year.

More than one-half of VCCS associate degree graduates continue on to a four-year institution. The purpose of the Lifeline Scholarship is to provide those students wanting to continue their education with additional incentive to excel in their studies at both the community college and at Virginia Tech.

“As a land-grant institution committed to the Commonwealth, Virginia Tech has created the Lifeline Scholarship to help citizens continue their education and to furnish a ‘lifeline’ for future academic achievement,” said Barry Simmons, director of University Scholarships and Financial Aid at Virginia Tech.

Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech is the most comprehensive university in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is among the top research universities in the nation. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to quality, innovation, and results through teaching, research, and outreach activities. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.